AI
UP’ s Prof Vukosi Marivate is defining what responsible, inclusive AI looks like
As Director of the African Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence( AfriDSAI) at the University of Pretoria( UP), Professor Vukosi Marivate is helping shape not only AI research, but also the policies that govern this critical technology nationally and globally.
Move over Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude: it’ s time for South Africa to build AI systems rooted in African contexts, says University of Pretoria’ s Professor Vukosi Marivate, who’ s also the ABSA-UP Chair of Data Science. To this end, Professor Marivate focuses on building our own AI systems, including the development of African language models capable of processing underrepresented languages and delivering locally relevant data insights. He’ s a co-founder of Lelapa AI, a start-up advancing AI for Africans by Africans, and is a Chief Investigator at the Masakhane Research Foundation, which develops natural language processing technologies for African languages. In addition, he co-founded Deep Learning Indaba, a grassroots machine-learning and AI conference that supports and empowers African researchers and practitioners.
“ Over the years, my work has focused on creating data and AI tools that can have a positive impact on lives and advance the use of local African languages in technology,” Prof Marivate says.“ The importance of local language data cannot be understated. It allows us to build inclusive systems that truly represent and serve diverse communities.”
His innovative work hasn’ t escaped the attention of the SA government: on 19 May, the Presidency awarded Prof Marivate with the Order of Mapungubwe in Silver in honour of his“ excellent contributions to data science, artificial intelligence and natural language processing, which have significantly advanced both national and continental technological capabilities”.
Prof Marivate’ s expertise is increasingly sought beyond South Africa’ s borders – most recently evidenced in February this year, when he was appointed as a member of the United Nations Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence. The 40-member panel is the first global scientific body dedicated entirely to AI and was created to produce evidence-based scientific assessments on its opportunities, risks, and impacts.
Rapid advances in machine-learning and Generative AI are transforming economies, labour markets and education systems. To address this pace of change, the panel will serve as an earlywarning and foresight mechanism, grounding global discussions in evidence while feeding into the UN’ s Global Dialogue on AI Governance.
For Africa, participation at this level is critical. Prof Marivate’ s presence on the panel ensures that African perspectives, languages and developmental priorities are part of the global evidence base informing AI governance.
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